The final stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné could potentially have been one for the breakaway and there was clear intent in the bunch from multiple teams to get into the move of the day. Like many, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were active in the start of the day with all of the team rotating through the attacks and looking to infiltrate the move that would snap the elastic. Unfortunately, having either spent energy yesterday in the break or in the long fight to get into the group today, when it did go the team missed out. Supporting Warren Barguil throughout the rest of the day, the squad positioned him for the final climbs, where Barguil made it over in the reduced peloton. Coming onto the final climb the pace was high with the GC riders upping the pace to create more gaps and hunt for the stage, so Barguil let go of the group and rode it into the line at his own tempo.
Barguil expressed: “It was the last day of Dauphiné and we really wanted to be in the break with the guys. We all tried to get in the moves and the guys followed the early ones but when the first climb started, then it was hard to make it with yesterday in my legs. Then I just sat in the peloton all day until the last climb where I took my own pace until the finish. It was good to be back racing after a long block of training, and put in some hard work here ahead of the summer.”
